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AACUC honors recipients of the Chairman’s Awards at the Commitment for Change virtual event

SNELLVILLE, GA (August 13, 2020) — The African-American Credit Union Coalition (AACUC) recognized five credit union leaders for the Chairman’s Awards at the Commitment to Change Conversation Series. John Cassidy, Eric Gibbs, Sr., James Gukeisen, Kelli Holloway and André Lucas received the esteemed award that honors individuals that best represents a model for other members to emulate and best embodies the purpose and goals of AACUC.

Cassidy is a senior sales market manager for CUNA Mutual Group. Working with associations, leagues and credit unions, he establishes, strengthens and maintains relationships with credit union trade organizations across the U.S. He develops and implements marketing strategies that promote the company’s competitive financial services to the credit union industry.

Gibbs is the Credit Manager of the Chicago Post Office Employees Credit Union and the newly elected president of the Midwest Regional Chapter of the AACUC. A Chicago native, his skillset and diverse knowledge base have allowed him to excel in several departments within the credit union, including Lending, Recoveries and Member Relations.

Gukeisen is a 19-year credit union movement veteran from Tampa, FL. He spent 11 years at Suncoast Credit Union where he started in the cash room and worked his way up to Senior Card Services Manager. Gukeisen’s last eight years of service have been at Culaince in various roles and he is now a member of the Credit Union Division of FIS.

Holloway began her career in financial education with State Employees’ Credit Union (SECU) in 2009. As the Vice President, Member Education and Outreach at SECU, she works alongside her staff to train credit union employees statewide on financial education efforts for youth and adults. As a credit union advocate, Holloway understands the importance of making lasting relationships with members, volunteers and the communities credit unions serve.

As the Director of Compliance for the MD DC Credit Union Association, Lucas is highly engaged with credit unions in Maryland and the DC region, consulting on operational issues, policies and procedure development as well as federal and state compliance issues. He trains over 500 volunteers and frontline staff annually on compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and conducts on-site BSA compliance testing. Lucas holds CUNA’s Credit Union Compliance Expert (CUCE), and Bank Secrecy Act Compliance Specialist (BSACS) designations.

The AACUC’s 5-part Commitment to Change Conversation Series is designed to inspire and empower credit union professionals to lead with a mindset of diversity, equity and inclusion during these challenging racial and public health crises to better represent and serve communities of color.

To learn more and register, visit https://advancenetlabs.org/aacuc/.

About AACUC

AACUC is considered a leader in the credit union industry adopting the 8^th Cooperative Principle and providing knowledge of how credit unions can become more diverse and inclusive.